Improvement in collecting gold from orbs



waited* tatt `Aucus'r F. W. PARTZ, or OAKLAND, cALIFonNIA.

Letters Patent No. 98,518, dated January 4, 1870.

IMPROVEMENT IN COLLECTING G-OLD `FROM: CRES.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of thesame To all whom 'it may concern:

Beit known that I, AUGUST F. W. PAR'rz, of Oakland, in the county ofAlameda, and State of California, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Pulvcrizing and Collecting Orcs; and I hereby declarethat the following is a full, clear, and exact descliption thereof,reference being had to the annexed drawings, forming part of thisspecification, in which- Figure l is ,an isometric-al projection oftheapparatus I employ, and

Figure 2,a like sectional view ot the pump I make use ci', as part ofthe said'apparatus.

. In the mechanical reduction oi' gold and silver-bearing ores, bystamps, and other machinery, from which the ore, when suificientlypulverizcd, is removed by water, great losses are experienced on accountof the water carrying oi a considerable portion of the o re, when it ish'nally allowed to escape from the mill, alihough it may have beenconducted through rarious tanks, sIuice-boxes, or other apparatusdesigned to retain the ore, by settling or other means. The

prevention ot' such losses, in the treatment of oresk containingmetallic particles ol' gold and silver, has proven the more diiiculi,because oi the peculiaritypossessed by metals, especially by gold, if ina finelydivided state, of remaining suspended in water, even longerthanclay and silex, the latter being in an equal state of division. Thepulverizing of such ores, without the use of water, is, therefore,frequently resorted to, and, in many instances, it has been found theonly means of saving the greater portion of the `precious metals.commonly done by stamps, is an operation undertaken only throughnecessity, because the wear. and tear caused to the machinery is fargreater than in the Wet treatment, the mot-ion has to be slower, theloss of ore by dust is considerable, and the inhaling of the iineparticles of ore, with which the atmosphere about the mill is constantlycharged, has a most injurious effect upon the health of the men inattendance.

The nature of my invention consists in performing the pulverization ot'ores, by the use of' water, in such a manner that the wateris notallowed to ilow off, but is continually returned, by means of pumps andtroughs, to the stamps, orother pulverizing-machinery,

while the ore is allowed to settle in tanks, from which itfmay'ii'omtime to time be removed, without interruption to the process.

The invention also includesa pump, particularly adapted to the elevationof water in which earthy I matter is suspended.

The accol'npanying drawing, iig. 1, represents, as connected with astamp-battery, an arrangement of tanks, pumps, troughs, and otherappliances, well calculatedi'or accomplishing the object of myinvention.

a a are the mortars ot' a ten-stamp battery.

But the dry pulverizing of ores, which is .which-glide in grooves, thatare l b and d are two tanks, of equal dimensions, each one being dividedby vertical partitions, so4 as to con- `tain several separatecompartments. These partitions have, at one of their upper corners, andat opposite ends, a portioncnt away, so that Water, entering the firstcompartment, will, ata certain height, ilow over into the next, and, intlowing from the iirst to the last compartment, will move in aserpentine line.

s s are two spouts. intended to lead oi any liquid .that may enter thetanks b and d, after they are filled to a proper level.

his annapron, across which the pounded ore is carried by thewater fromthe battery to the tanks b and d.

c is a gate, so adjustable, on either side ofthe block x, that,accordingly as it is placed, the ore and water, coming ,from the mortarsa a., may be directed into either one of' the tanks b and d.

g and 'q are pumps, so arranged, in the compart` ments of the tanks 11and d farthest iom the battery', that thei1:.suctiou-valves are aboutmidway between the upper edges and the bottoms of the said tanks.

These pumps are worked separately, by power applied to the pulleys n andm,'near each of which is'a loose pulley.

The troughs o o are intended to convey the Water, elevated by the saidpumps, ,to the mortars a a.

k is a tank, of about the same capacity as either of the tanks 'b and(l, and is so placed, in relation to them, that its upper edge is,horizontally, about in v line with their bottoms.

e e e'are plugs, by the removal of which the.liquid in each of thecompartments of the tanks b and cl`may, to certain levels, be drawn oii'into the troughs t t, which convey the same to the tank k.

Outside oil this tank, and vcommunicating `with its interior, by anorifice near its bottom, and a tube, z,

is a pump, l, 'which is operated by power applied to the pulley i, nearwhich is also a loose pulley.

The Water elevated by this pump is discharged into the trough c, throughwhich, and the troughs o o, it vis conducted to the mortars u, a.

To illustrate the inner construction of the pumps g, q, and Z, Ihave,'in g. 2, shown their main features on a larger scale.

p is a piston, with a valve and lifting-r-od attached to it. To guidethe same, and prevent friction with the woodeutube w, in whichit'isdesigned to move quite freely, the said piston is supplied with twopins, c fr, protected against wear' 'by strips of band-iron u u.

The. operation, by means of the apparatus above described, is asfollows:

The tanks b and d are iilled with water. The'gate c is placed (as shownin the drawing) so that the orel and water, coming from the stamps, willbe directedinto the tank b. On `starting the. stamps, the pump g is alsoput in motion to supply the mortars a a with the necessary water, and tocontinually replenish the same, as the water thus conveyed flows oftthrough the vmortar-screens,n carrying the pulver-ized ore overthe-apron h, into the tankb. Most ot' the ore will naturally settlefinthe first compartment, less in the second, and still less iu the third.As the ore accumulates Yin the tank, the surplus water Hows through the.spout s intb the tank The operation having thus been carried on forapracticable length of time, that is to say, untii the' firstcompartmentfis about half filled with ore, or, as 4--the case may be,the water iu the thirdcompartment becomes too muddy, the gate cischanged, s`o as to let the water, with the ore, iiow into the tank d;the pump q is put in motion, and the pump gis stopped by slipping thebelt from the pulley n upon the" loose pulley alongside ot' it. Whilethe ore isnow collecting in the tank d, the mass contained 'in the tankb is left iuidisturbed, until the ore remaining suspended in the waterhas settled. By removing some or all of the plugs c c le, the water isthen drawn oft nto'the tank k, whereupon the plugs are replaced, and theore is taken out. When it becomes necessary,

on account of the accumulation of ore, or the muddy state ot' the waterin the tank'd, to discontinue the' discharge into the same, the gate cis again changed,

so as t0 allow the water, with the ore, to iow into the tank b thepump lis put in motion to supply the mortars a a. with water, and the' pumpqis stopped'. As

soon as all the water has been returned from Vthe tank 7a to the tanki), the pump l is stopped, and the pump g again set towork. 'Meanwhile,time is given to the ore in the tank d to settle,vwhereupon the water isdrawnoff into the tank 7-, the ore is removed, and the process repeated,in the same manner as already described with reference to the tank b.

It will require no further explanation to show how, by means of theconsecutive changes and manipulations above set forthythe pulverizing'and collecting of oresmay be continued without interrupt-ion.

In place of the water taken with the settled ore from the tanks/ib andd, a corresponding amount of fresh water must be supplied. It' the orepasses into amalgamati'ng-pans, tubs, or barrels, the water necessaryfor thinning the ore-pulp should always be taken from the tanks b and d,and be replaced by fresh wat-er.

It will be best to have the tanks b and al of such size, (that of thetank 7c to be correspondig,) that each of them will hold all the ore ot'a twelve-hours run, together with the necessary water, in order thatthere may be sucient time for the settling and removing of the ore.

Under circumstances, it may be expedient to have one ormore reservetanksor cisterns, into which the water, in case it i becomes slimy withearthy matter,

'may from .time to time be led, and in which it can re main until thetine particl'cs of ore suspended therein have subsided. y

vInstead ot'. being connected with a stamp-battery, the same apparatusmay, in like manner, be applied to any other ore-pnlverizing machinerywhich is operated with fiowing water.

Instead of the two pumps g and q, only one pump may be used, thesame'bei'ng so arranged between the tanks b and d, that by a suitableadj ust-ment of valves,A

it can be made to draw water from either one ot' the said tanks.

Instead of the kind of pumps herein described, chaii ipnu|psorany othersuitable coutrivance for raising water containingl earthy matter, may beem ployed. For the troughs o o and 11, pipes may be subi stituted, andit will be apparent that various other alterations may be made, by whichessentially the same effect is produced. 1, therefore, do not conlinemyself to the exact shape and construction ot' the apparatus hereindescribed.A

What I-claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

vThe use, in connection with stamp-,batteries and otherore-pnlverizingmachinery, of' thatanks b, d, and` 1c, together with the pumps g, q, andl, and the troughs o and v, or their respective equivalents,substantially as and for the purpose herein specied.

' AUGUST F. W. PARTZ. [n.s]

Witnesses:

J ouN L. BOONE, A. T. DEWEY.

